IDF uses drones to drop teargas on Gaza Strip protestors

It has been a bloody 24 hours in Gaza after Israel Defense Force (IDF) killed at least 61 Palestinians and injured more than 2700 as some protestors attempted to cross the border into Israel.

Mass protests have erupted through much of Palestine in response to the opening of the new United States embassy in Jerusalem. The move is viewed by Palestinians as a slap in the face to ongoing peace discussions with Israel over the status of their occupied lands.

The IDF are frequently condemned by human rights groups and the international community for their overly harsh tactics deployed against predominantly unarmed protestors. While it is clear in this instances that some of tens of thousands of Palestinian protestors threw stones or rolled burning tyres towards the Israeli border, not a single Israeli soldier was reported seriously injured or killed.

IDF snipers, however, were filmed openly shooting unarmed protestors (including women and teenagers) with live ammunition; an action which violates numerous international laws. Some Palestinians loaded kites with molotov cocktails and set them in the direction of the soldiers but it is unclear if any of these reached their intended targets.

The IDF spokespeople have defended their soldiers’ actions, claiming they were defending their border from the protestors.

Israeli soldiers often fire teargas en masse to dispurse protestors. It was only in March, however, that they started using drones as a method for teargas delivery.

A kite launched by Palestinian protestors against Israeli forces with a molotov cocktail attached to the bottom.

There are two different methods by which drones are used to dispense teargas.

The first involves the drones directly dropping teargas canisters. This makes the gas more potent but is highly dangerous because the canisters can be heavy. When dropped from the drones’ normal cruising altitude of between 30 and 60 feet (9 to 18 metres) – a direct hit to someone’s head can easily be deadly.